Thursday, September 11, 2014

Quick now, here, now, always

Those are T.S. Eliot's words recited by Jake in an interview with CBC's Jian Ghomeshi. You can watch the full 30-minute interview here:

There are a few other interviews floating around. Here's Jake talking to the HFPA and someone else from the CBC.

And the best: Jake on whoever is his twitter impersonator: "Whoever this guy is, he's an idiot."

Professional and amateur shots:

Team InStyle is in Toronto right now, checking out all the coolest stars and movies at the Toronto International Film Festival. The best part? We set up a pop-up portrait studio right in the middle of heart of downtown to get the inside scoop on all the celebs’ newest projects. Photographer Jerome Corpuz is behind the lens taking pictures of the stars, including Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal. “We kicked off the project with Jake, and it was nice start,” Corpuz said. “I knew a little about the film he was in, Nightcrawler, and at the moment when he was discussing his film briefly, that’s the moment we got the picture.”

29 comments:

Jess, I forgot to answer your question about overacting. It's a very stylized performance. If you aren't into it, I can see how it would grate and come off as stagey. But honestly, I think 90% of the people there were totally won over.

Next week Vallee begins production on "Demolition," in which Jake Gyllenhaal plays an investment banker distraught by the death of his wife. "We did it with 'Dallas,' with 'Wild' and I'm doing it next with 'Demolition' — shooting the same way with no grip crew, natural light only," says Vallee. "Actors don't have to hit a spot or feel the heat of a spot. There's no spot. There's just practical light. There's the sun outside."

Acting-wise, I was much more impressed with Jake Gyllenhaal in Dan Gilroy's energetically twisted Nightcrawler. A small-time thief with a gift for insistently ingratiating gab that can be deceptively malign, his character is a sociopath who stumbles on to the perfect career: trolling the police scanner at night to find accidents and crime he can videotape and sell to local TV.

Before long, his relentlessness and complete lack of empathy turn him into a star shooter, who can name his own price at the bargain-basement local-news program he sells to (and can even lure the news director, played by Rene Russo, into a relationship). Gyllenhaal's cheeks are sunken, his hair lank, his eyes burning with a strange feverishness that always seems just an inch from violence. Gilroy's script gives him a series of motor-mouthed but highly formal speeches. He spews Gilroy's dialogue with an urgency - and a cunning - that makes him impossible to take your eyes off in a movie that grabs you and never lets you go.

It seems there’s nothing Bloom won’t do to claw his way into the business that was perfectly despicable enough before he came along. Maybe with any lesser an actor than Gyllenhaal, or a backdrop less ambition-driven than Los Angeles, Bloom would just be another heartless paparazzi, a scavenger to be reviled, which would make Nightcrawler nothing more than yet another finger in the crowd, wagging at the media.

But here’s the thing: With every one of Bloom’s appalling actions, which ratchet up from scene to scene, the audience at the packed Princess of Wales Theatre was laughing gut-busting, knee-slapping belly laughs. Though that may sound like entirely the wrong reaction for a film about the disgusting forces that feed our disgusting obsession with everyday mayhem, it wasn’t.

When Jake Gyllenhaal steals into Toronto under the cover of darkness, he knows he’s always going to find one thing waiting for him: a good night’s rest.

“I really love sleeping here,” says Gyllenhaal, in Toronto for the world premiere of Nightcrawler, about an obsessive freelance crime videographer who dives too deep into the nocturnal underbelly of Los Angeles.

It could be our nation’s new slogan: Welcome to Canada! Have a nap! But it’s not like Canadians are dull, says Gyllenhaal. It’s just that whenever he comes here from his home in New York City, he immediately feels at ease.

“There’s a really warm nature to the people here, and to the city,” he says. “Whenever I’ve worked here, whenever I’ve stayed here, it just feels kind of warm, you know?”

I think that one might have been posted, too, but there's a lot of good stuff in it.

I first spot Jake Gyllenhaal in the lobby of the InterContinental Hotel in Toronto wearing a button-down shirt and sunglasses. I am supposed to interview him in 20 minutes about his role in “Nightcrawler,” an enthralling new genre flick about a psychotic freelance cameramen who films crime scenes for local news programs. These freelancers, or nightcrawlers—unscrupulous vampires of the night—listen to police scanners for brutal car crashes and headline-worthy crimes, then speed to the scene and film what they can. The resulting footage gets sold to local outlets for cash. The general rule of thumb: the bloodier the scene, the bigger the payout.

Unfortunately, due to the hectic nature of film festivals, my interview with Gyllenhaal about this role gets pushed back more than an hour, and I am eventually asked if I’d like to conduct the conversation in the car on the way to his next press opportunity. “Absolutely,” I reply. Any time you’re able to interview an actor outside of a sterile hotel room is a win. Plus, the car setting is fitting considering Gyllenhaal spends most of his time in “Nightcrawler” driving. I soon find myself in an elevator with the 32-year-old star and his team, heading downstairs to their SUV in the hotel garage. On our way there, Gyllenhaal strikes up a conversation. ...

I begin by pointing out the obvious irony of where this conversation is taking place.

“In the backseat of the car, though,” he says. “We are being driven,” as opposed to his character in the film, who does all of the driving.

“And we’re not on the way to a crash site––at least I don’t think we are,” I reply.

“You never know,” Gyllenhaal says, smirking. ...

“It’s like a Batmobile,” continues Gyllenhaal, regarding the police scanner setup the nightcrawlers he shadowed had in their car. “It’s pretty cool how they use the sensors that they use, particularly their hearing, because they have 15 scanners going on at once. The level of noise going on at one time is fascinating. They tune their senses to a very specific thing. They are like animals. It’s got a very animal Wild West quality to it. They’re outside the norm, not only are they up at night, but what they’re doing is so…you know they’re searching for tragedy and they’re racing to it at 120mph, which is not always the safest thing.”

“OK, oh shit,” says Gyllenhaal as the door opens and he jumps out onto the sidewalk where he is greeted to a chorus of screaming fans and a security guard. I get out and run around the other side of the car. Gyllenhaal calls me over and gives me a quick synopsis of 'Demolition,' while gingerly walking toward the building’s entrance…

“It’s a movie about a guy who’s losing his wife and it basically tears apart his life as a result of what happened, but it does it in the most interesting ways, literally and figuratively,” he says, the screams chirping up in the background.

I follow him almost to the front the door and then he goes in. I stop and turn off my recorder. The interview is over. I have got about seven minutes worth of quotes, less than half the time I was originally given. As I walk back out to the sidewalk, I can hear a group of pre-teen girls giggling over seeing Gyllenhaal. One of them is looking at her phone. “Look at all the pictures I got of him!”

Jake's publicists should be nicer to IndieWire. They have been very kind to Jake,

I thoroughly enjoyed Toronto, BJ. It's hard readjusting to non-film-festival life again! I don't have to line up for anything. I haven't had any popcorn today! Still working on my thoughts on all the films. I have to do it before I forget them all.

“What happens is, I started not eating as much and I started getting into the character that way,” he says. “I started isolating myself. You can’t go out to dinner with people. And as we got closer to shooting, I would stay up later, I would go for runs late at night. And that just, pretty soon as we started shooting I realized I wasn’t seeing anyone, I wasn’t talking to many people, and I was shooting up at night all night. And then sleeping a couple hours at the end.”

He is more in this method act than I thought. Must have been a bit worrying for his family.Well, I like it.

I forgot to mention that I'm happy that you were there and saw Nightcrawler, UV.

What interview was that, Monica? The one that you're translating? I've read so many I'm afraid I've lost track ;)

Thanks.

It's good Jake is finally allowed to open up about his preperation for 'Nightcrawler'. I remember reading a lot of quotes by people who were worried about him last year - or who thought he was nuts and that he took things too far.

I'm sure Jake knew what he was doing, but it did look a bit alarming and too intense for many people - including myself.

All I can say is that this will probably be his first movie ever where I won't think "Damn, he looks good!" ;) ;)

Thanks, Ultraviolet. One needs to take a vacation just to catch up with all the video interviews and photos!

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Some Oscar analysis:

Glenn Whipp from LA Times: If Oscar voters had any kind of history of thinking outside the narrow parameters of what is deemed an "awards-worthy" film, a lot more people here would probably be talking about Jake Gyllenhaal's twitchy turn in "Nightcrawler" as an L.A. outsider who spends his nights filming footage of heinous crime scenes and roadside carnage to sell to the local news. Its Toronto screening set social media ablaze, winning a loud ovation, though, because of the completely unhinged work on display, not everyone was standing. Perhaps they were stunned into submission. "I never want to see that movie again," one Oscar-nominated producer told me after the screening, "but I'm going to tell everyone I know to watch it for Gyllenhaal and the way it captures the city at night." Persuading academy members — many of whom never could bring themselves to watch "12 Years a Slave" last year — to give Gyllenhaal's psychotic creep a chance could be a tall order.

Kristopher Tapley from Hitfix: Finally, the dark horse: Jake Gyllenhaal. I've already written about how deftly Gyllenhaal gets under the skin of his creepy, ambitious character in Dan Gilroy's "Nightcrawler." It's a performance worth pulling for in the race because it's so outside the generally agreed-upon standard for "prestige" or "awards" players. Sometimes those can land just right. This is an exercise in control and building atmosphere with inflection and behavior, the kind of thing, surely, Gyllenhaal's fellow actors will appreciate. And it's really just another in a long line of stand-out portrayals from the 33-year-old actor. It's tight and finding room to maneuver is next to impossible, but the guy deserves to be in the conversation.

THR’s Scott Feinberg: Here are the top 10 films to generate buzz coming out of TIFF: 9. Nightcrawler — Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut features Jake Gyllenhaal as a dark and twisted drifter-turned-freelance TV reporter who gets caught up in crime reporting. The film probably won’t generate any Oscar buzz, but Gyllenhaal’s performance has been praised as some of his best. If it doesn’t generate any awards or nominations, it’ll at least be a performance one can’t soon forget.

Pete Hammond from Deadline: My biggest guilty pleasure in Toronto was seeing Nightcrawler, featuring a creepy, dead-on turn from Jake Gyllenhaal as a freelance TV news cameraman who shoots grisly crime scenes. It’s one to see when Open Road opens it October 30. Any movie that keeps me wide awake during this annual sleep-deprivation fest is a winner with me!

NY Post: There’s also buzz for a newly-emaciated Jake Gyllenhaal as a wacko freelance news cameraman in “Nightcrawler”, but the film may well be too out there for Oscar voters. They sure liked Jake on the red carpet here, though.

The Wire: (...) Reese Witherspoon in Wild and Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, two of the most talked-about performances at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Seattle Times: Jake Gyllenhaal in “Nightcrawler” (a favorite among those I stood in line with at TIFF).

Ch. Schobert from Buffalo News: TIFF ‘14: Winners and losers

Winner: Jake GyllenhaalThe “Prisoners” star continued his ascent to the ranks of young greats with the searing, darkly comical “Nightcrawler.” He starred in and produced this thriller which — believe it — compares favorably with classics like “Network.”

Loser: James FrancoFranco does Faulkner! Just not very well, apparently. He directed and starred in the poorly received “Sound and Fury.” Note to Franco: Start studying the choices of Jake Gyllenhaal.

He is more in this method act than I thought. Well, I like it.I think he went to the extreme again to Southpaw.I do, too. Albeit a different kind of extreme transformation. I think Southpaw being a more conventional story, Jake’s raw physicality combined with a strong dramatic performance will be more accessible to the public, and more up AMPAS alley. A by-the-book intense, powerful performance in a baity role could finally suit their taste. Sometimes voters acknowledge the body of work, and Southpaw will be the follow-up to a string of realistic (EOW,) nuanced, subtle (Prisoners), meticulous (Enemy), transformative (Nightcrawler) performances.

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Clearly the perfect director for Jake: "They can move anywhere they want," says Vallee of his actors. "It's giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don't need to cut performances."

"Be prepared to see me next year in September," says Vallee. "We'll have this same discussion." He means Oscar talk :-D

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Speaking of recent/future collaborators, I noticed Vallee not only at HFPA party, but also at Variety party honoring Jake and Nightcrawler. Jake at The Equalizer premiere. Antoine Fuqua championing Jake’s perf in Nightcrawler:

Going dark or dour has been a good career move for actors such as Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, and Jake Gyllenhaal in “Nightcrawler,” which got a hearty endorsement from Pittsburgh-born director Antoine Fuqua. “I saw his movie, he’s powerful in it,” he said, and just wait until people see him in “Southpaw,” which he is now editing. “He’s fantastic.”

Best: "Nightcrawler"This one is really sticking with me and I think it's because it manages to work as a thriller, as a black comedy satire about the news media, and as a character study. Dan Gilroy's done tremendous work here as a writer/director, but what really makes it sing is that performance by Jake Gyllenhaal. He's rapidly becoming the go-to guy for a certain kind of character, somehow disconnected and broken and unable to fully communicate with other people. Between "Donnie Darko," "Zodiac," and last year's double-feature of "Prisoners" and "Enemy," no one out there right now seems better at diving into the troubled skin of these disturbing characters, and this might be the best version yet of this archetype.- Drew McWeeny

I love all the Best of TIFF lists for NC and Jake, as well as the pleas/hopes that people will think outside the box.

Jess, I was also happy to see Fuqua's quote about Jake but I'm still not psyched about him. And the scathing reviews for The Equalizer have me worried for Southpaw.

Clearly the perfect director for Jake:

"They can move anywhere they want," says Vallee of his actors. "It's giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don't need to cut performances."

LOL, HM. I had the same thought. It was interesting to see Jake all over TIFF, supporting his once and future directors. And schmoozing. Since he'll be doing Constellations, it will be hard for him to do the awards circuit.

Of course, he's done it before to no avail, so who knows if it would make any difference.

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Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake is the kind of guy who can do a spot-on impression of someone you work with. He plays guitar and has a great voice. Kids and dogs love him. He loves his mom and sister and girlfriend. He's perfect. Too bad he's ugly. ~ Natalie Portman